1 year old - Do you put their name down for schools now or not?

[RuthT]

Okay I am begining to get a bit worried. My dd is 1 and lots of friends and aquaintances have said I need to get her name down for the right primary in order to get her in to a secondary.

Am I going mad or does any one else think...

She is only 1 - how do I know where I'll be living in 4 years time.

What if she is hates school full stop

What if the school changes in the interim

Is it really that competitive

Does it mean private schooling is the only option if you leave it?

etc etc

no
if its a state school they will smile nicely and htink you are mad as nothing counts till the year before they are4 or whatever

if its Eton then theres a point

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Oh dear, I think it is only your child goes to private school that you need to worry about getting into right nursery/kindgarten/primary.

You might think about where you live, are you in the catchment area for good schools and if not examine your options.

Otherwise, your child will start reception the year they turn 4 provided it is pre-september of that year. My August born started school when he was 4 and a month. When you have to apply depends on where you are - in london we would have applied when he was 4 for a january start, but here in surrey you have to put there names down before october the year before they are due to start. If that makes any sense.

agree
it's all about distance from school/special needs/ siblings, etc etc
not how soon they've got their names down

stop worrying! and inform your friends they are ill-informed

We don;t have to name our choices until the spring before the academic year that they will start school.

E.g. DS will be 4 in the March, we will fill in our form with school choices, and then he will be allocated a place in the summer term to start part-time in the September.

I know all areas vary so check the policy that applies to you with your LEA.

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Our local state primary school said it helps them to know how many children roughly to expect and to let them know whenever you can.

It doesn't give them a definite place, is not binding but simply gives them a rough guide of numbers.

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I was told this too and therefore had ds name down for a couple of local state primaries from the age of 1.

I did find out that the waiting list in our borough is only to make sure you get sent a form for application at the right time - a reminder to apply really. Where you are on the waiting list has no bearing on your liklehood of getting into a certain school. Where I live it is 100% dependant on distance from school/siblings/special needs etc.

If I were you I would put dd1 name down just so you get sent a form at the right time, but not worry too much about it if you live near state schools you would be happy for dd to attend.

On the contrary it is private schools where you'd possibly need to put her name down now, For state schools you can register an interest - sometimes called a Waiting List - but you won't have any advantage when the time to apply comes.

Phew!

Don't have to put name down, not going mad!

Okay so how about private vs state primary schools?